Rolling mill



y 1935- B. R. SHOVER' 2,007,815

ROLLING MILL Filed April 22, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 M M. .ZL M

' ROLLING MILL Filed April 22, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORIE y 1935. B. R. SHOVER 2,007,815

ROLLING MILL Filed April 22, 1952 f 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR 'M/aM 4 M @A m,M/M

July 9, 1935. B R$HOV ER 2,007,815

ROLLING MILL Filed April 22, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR Patented July'Q, 1935 a UNITE-D STATES PATENT- OF"FICE it ROLLING1&11IQILQQ. l I 'Barton Ri Shover, Pittsburg'h; Pa. Applicationnpi'il 22, 1932, sesame. 606,842

' s 01mins. (o1; 80- -34) My invention frelates to rolling mills and, in particularjrto" a" so-calleduniversal mill, the

V mounting of' thevertical rolls therein, and the 1 such installations, any change-in the size of the horizontal rolls-necessitates" a change in the size of the vertical rolls in order to maintain the peripheral speeds of both sets of rolls identical. In" a} comparatively few installations, each pair of vertical rolls has 'been driven by-an individual moton While this arrangement relieves the "necessity for changing the vertical rolls when changing the horizontal rolls, since the speed of "the vertical rollsmay beadjusted independently of that of the'horizontal rolls, it is still necessary that both' vertical rolls be of the same diameter. I In all present "types of universal mills'with whichIam familiar, the vertical-rolls are driven by a square horizontal shaft or round shaft --with splines having driving bevel pinions lslidable thereon meshing with gears on the vertical roll shafts. The sliding-bevel pinions and. their bearings take up considerablespaceon the drive shaft an'd'if smaller widths of materialare to be rolled, thepiniofrsmjust be disposed on the housing sides j of the axe's of the vertical rolls. -This arrangement limits the maximum width which the mill can-roll to-the spacing between housings,-less the total length of the bevel pinions and their bearings along the drive shaft. Ifumaximum widths are to be rolled, driving pinion's may be placed on-the pass side of the'vertical rolls but this arrangement correspondingly limits the The present arrangement of the idriv'e'for the vertical rolls, as abovedescribed, renders it'very difficult to change these rolls and considerable operating time is thus lost whenever changes or repairs become necessary.

itself, a greater clearance between the vertical and horizontal rolls is necessary when anti friction bearings are used than whenlpresent types of bearings are employed, it because in changing rolls, the bearing housingsmust pass the vertical rolls." 1 1 Ev'en" with the .v fairly 'close Iclearance between Itis desirable in universal mills'to have the,

vertical andhorizontal rolls which is -possib le with present-types of bearings; it is sometimes desiredmto roll a slabshorter than the distance between thelcenter line of the vertical rollsand the bite of the horizontal rolls so that the, ver: 'tical 'rolls cannot deliver the slab to the horizontal rolls.. 1 V; f :I have invented a; rolling mill which overcomes the foregoing, objections to mills of known types. In accordance with myjinvention, I provide a separate .drivingmotor for each of the vertical rolls. Each roll .7 is independently removable from the mill Without disturbing the other so that, repairs, QrrepIacements can be effected within a veryrshort time. It isnot necessary, furthermore, that the vertical rolls both be of the same diameter or of a fixed diameter relative to .thatlofth'e'horizontal rolls.v I

.The invention also contemplates means permitting the removal of horizontal rolls equipped with anti-friction bearings without disturbing the vertical, rolls., A" close clearance between vertical and horizontal rolls is also permitted. A driven auxiliary supporting roll, furthermore, is incorporated in the mill'between the vertical andhorizontal rolls to deliver slabs shorter than the distance between said sets of rolls.

q Fora complete understanding of the invention,

Figure l-isa side'elevation of the mill showing a portion thereof in section;

. Figure; 2 is a view partly-in plan and partly in section along the line IIII of Figure 1, certain portions being broken away ;for clearness;

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the mill; and Figure 4 is a sectional view along the line IV-IV of Figure 2. I Referring now in detail to the drawings, a rolling. lrnill according to myinvention comprises housings I0 and H supported on shoe plates l2. Windows l3 in the-housing are enlarged adjacent ,the bottom thereof to receive roller bearings M.

The roller bearings Mare supported in yokes l5 bolted to the housing at the edge of the lower f portion of the window. Keepers l6 bolted across the yokes l5 maintain the roller bearings in their supporting yokes. The mill has a bottom roll :11 having necks 18; The necks l8 rest on the roller bearings I4 to support the bottom roll in the housing. This type: of bearing for supporting the :bottom roll is described more fullyaand claimed'in my prior'Patent No. 1,981,078, granted November 20, 1934, for Rolling mills. End rings I9 bolted across thewindow l3 co-axially with the bottom roll prevent lateral movement thereof.

:The main mill drive is not part of this invention and is, therefore, not shown 1 The mill also has-a top roll 20; The top roll has necks 2| which are journaled in any suitable type of bearing carried in bearing housings 22. The bearing housings 22 are slidable vertically in the windows l3 guided by rails 23 bolted to the edge of the window. One side of each housin window is provided with a removable angle liner plate 23a for a purpose which will presently appear. to receive the long leg of the plate 23a on partial removal thereof. The bearing housings 22 and the top roll 28 carried thereby are normally maintained in position by a suspension including beams 24 extending across the mill and secured to the bearing boxes by pins 25. A clevis 26 is pinned to each of the beams 24. The clevises are secured to a crosshead 21 carried by a hydraulic cylinder 28 reciprocating on a fixed piston 29; The piston 29 is supported on a transom 30 extending between the housings IO and II. Suitable fluid pressure maintained within the cylinder 28 holds the top roll of the mill in adjusted position. This apparatus is described more fully and claimed in my prior Patent No. 1,948,804, granted February 27, 1934, for screwdowns.

Thepcsition of the bearing housings 22 and, therefore, that of the top roll 20, is determined by thesetting of the main screwdowns indicated at 3|. Thrust bearings 32 are provided between the ends of the screwdowns and the bearing housings '22. Worm wheels 33 mounted in housings 34 have a sliding fit by means of splines or squared portions with the screwdowns 3|. Worms 35 on worm shafts 36 mesh with the worm wheels 33. The shafts 36 are journaled in housings 31. Gears 38 on the shafts 36 are driven by pinions 39 on pinion shafts 40. The shafts 40 are journaledin housings 4| and are driven by a main screwdown motor 42 through couplings 43. The motor 42 is mounted on a top transom 44 extending across the mill.

The motor 42 may be controlled manually or automatically to provide the desired setting betweenthe horizontal rolls l1 and 20. The screwdown drive includes a spur gear reduction and a worm gear reduction so that a very fine control of the screwdown movement is afforded.

On the entering side'of the mill (the left-hand side in Figures 3 and 4), guide rails 45 and 46 extend across the mill and are suitably secured at their ends to the housings I0 and II. Housings 41 and 48 are carried on the rails 45 and 46. The lower ends of the housings 41 and 48 are bifurcated and provided with bearing strips 49 engaging the sides of the rail 46. Rollers 50 are journaled' in the bifurcated lower ends of the housings on shafts 5| and engage the top face of the rail 46 to facilitate movement of the housings axially of the mill rolls. Yokes 52 surround the rail 45 and are bolted to the housings 41 and 48. Bearing strips 53 on the yokes 52 and the housings 41 and 48 engage the side faces of the rail 45. The housings 41 and 48 are thus rigidly supported but are adapted fortransverse adjusting'movement.

Vertical rolls 54 having integral shafts 55 are journaled in the housings 41 and 48. Gears 56 are mounted on the upper ends of the shafts 55. Pinions 51 meshing with the gears 56 are keyed to intermediate shafts 58 journaled in the nous-- ings 41 and 48. Worm wheels 59 keyed to the shafts 58 are contained in housings 60 mounted on the housings 41 and 48. The housings 60 are also provided with shafts 6| having worms 62 meshing with the worm wheels 59. Motors 63, supported in any suitable manner, are provided with ex- The housing windows are recessed at 23b 7 different widths is permitted even though the motensible couplings 64 through which they drive the shafts 6|. 1

Each vertical roll is thus provided with an in dependent drive comprising a motor 63, the worm reduction gears 59, 62,, and the spur reduction gears 56 and 51. The drive for'the rolls also includes the extensible couplings 64, so that transverse adjustment of the vertical rolls for tors 63 are mounted on a stationary foundation. Theribs of housings l0 and II are offset at 65 to provide clearance for the outer ends of the gear housings 6|] when the vertical roll housings 41 and .48 are retracted to their extreme outermost position, as shown in Figure 1.

The'vertical roll housings are urged toward their outermost position by counterweights or hydraulic retracting means (not shown) similar to that shown for the top roll 28. The housings 41 and 48 may be adjusted inwardly by vertical roll screwdowns 65. Each screwdown 66 comprises a pair of screws 61 traversing nuts 58 seated in the housingsl0 and H. Thrust bearings 69 are provided between the ends of the screws and the housings 41 and 48. The ends of the screws 61 are squared as at 10 and gears 1| are slidably mounted on such squared ends. The gears 1| are enclosed within housings 12 bolted to the main housings l3 and II and are driven by pinions 13 therein keyed to shafts 14. The shafts 14 are driven by motors 15 through speed reducing gears 16.

A transom 11 extends acrossthe mill on the entrance side thereof and is bolted at its ends to the housings H) and H. of the transom is omitted in Figures 1 and 2 for the sake of clearness but the bolt holes for securing it to the housings are shown in Figure 1. The transom 11 is provided with a bearing arm 18 projecting therefrom between the vertical rolls and toward the bite of the horizontal rolls. An auxiliary supporting roll 19 is journaled in the arm 18. A driving roll 80 is also carried by the arm 18. The roll 88 engages the roll l1 and the roll 19 for frictionally driving the latter from the former. If desired, the roll 80 may be provided with spring-pressed bearings for maintaining it constantly in engagement with the rolls I1 and 19.

The function of the roll 19, of course, is to make it possible to handle slabs shorter than the horizontal distance between center lines of the vertical and horizontal rolls. The slab is normally fed to the mill by a front roll table (notshown) and, if desired, idling rolls may be carried by the arm 18 between the end of ,the front table and the intermediate driven roll 19. Instead of using the extensible couplings 64 in connection with stationary driving motors 63, the armature shaft of the driving motor may be coupled to shaft 6| and the motor 63 moved with the housings 41 and 48.

The operation of the mill described above is substantially the same as that of present types of universal mills. The construction described, however, is characterized by several important advantages over previous mills. In the first place, since the vertical rolls each have their own driving motor, and are thereby independent of each other and the horizontal roll drive, the flexibility of the mill is greatly increased because it is not necessary to make the diameter of the vertical rolls equal, or to maintain any fixed relation between the diameters of the vertical andhorizontal rolls. Regardless of differences of themameter of the vertical rolls or their relation tothe The transverse portion v pended claims.

diametersv of the horizontal rolls, the desired peripheral roll speed can bemaintained by adjusting the speed of theseparate motors for driving the vertical rolls. The arrangement provides for a greater range between maximum and minimum rolling widths for a givendistance between the main roll housings than has been obtainable heretofore. The limitations on vertical roll ad justment which are imposed by the previous drives for the vertical rollshavebeen entirely overcome.

Another advantage of the mill is that the vertical rolls may be removed independently with little difiiculty; It is necessary only to disconnect the coupling between the motor and the vertical roll, and then remove the yoke holding the vertical roll housing against its upper guide rail. The entire vertical roll housing may then be lifted vertically from the mill and replaced by a similar unit in a very short time so that failure of either vertical roll or itsv drive does not necessitate halting mill operation very long.

The mill is adapted ,for anti-friction bearings for the main rolls, in accordance with the present trend in mill design. The spacing of the vertical and horizontal rolls, furthermore, need not be made excessive to provide clearance for the bearing housings. When it'is desired to change the horizontal rolls, partial removal of the plates 23a so that their longer legs lie in therecesses'23b in the housings, provides the necessary clearance to permit the anti-friction bearings for the main rolls to pass by the vertical rolls.

The provision of an auxiliary driven roll between the vertical and horizontal rolls makes it possible to roll'slabs having a length less than the spacing between the vertical and horizontal rolls. I

Although I have illustrated and described herein but a single present preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be recognized that many changes therein may be made without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the ap- I claim:

pair of housings, windows in the housings, bearings mounted therein and a horizontal roll supported in said'bearings, of avertical roll, means for supporting it adjacent the horizontal roll so that it precludes axial movement of the hori zontal roll and its bearings relative to the housings, and a removable liner in said window permitting lateral movement of the horizontal roll and its bearings to clear the vertical roll and its support,

2. Ina rolling mill, a pair of housings, a hori-'- zontal roll supported on bearings in said housings, a vertical roll and bearings therefor positioned adjacent the horizontal roll so asto interfere with axial movement thereof with its bearings, and removable means supporting the hori- 1 zontal roll bearings against lateral movement in the housingsto clear the vertical roll and its bearings.

3; In a rolling mill, a horizontal roll and bear 4. In a rolling mill, the combination with a pair of main housings, and transverse rails extending therebetween, of vertical roll housings mounted on said rails for adjustment laterally of the mill, the bottoms of said vertical roll housings being slotted to receive one rail, and the upper ends of the vertical roll housings being releasably attached to the other rail, a worm and .worm wheel drive in each of said vertical roll housings, an individual motor for operating each of said drives, extensible couplings between the motors and the drives, said drives being oiiset from the axes of the Vertical roll housings along tending therebetween, of 'vertical roll housings mounted on said rails for adjustment laterally of the mill, the bottoms of said vertical roll housthe path of material traversing themill, whereby ings being slotted to receive one rail, and the upper ends of the vertical roll housings being releasably attached to the other rail, a worm and thejvertical roll housings may be retracted into engagement with the main housings, said main housings being offset adjacent said drives to permit further retraction of the vertical roll housings.

6. In a universal mill, a pair of housings, horizontal and vertical rolls rotatably supported in said housings, a transom extending between the housings on'the same side of the horizontal rolls as the vertical rolls, a bearing arm projecting between the horizontal rolls from the transom, and a feed roll journaled in said arm between the horizontal and vertical rolls.

'7. The apparatus defined by claim 6 character- .ized by a friction drive between the feed roll and one of the horizontal rolls.

8. In a rolling mill, the combination with a pair of housings, bearings mounted therein, and horizontal rolls journaled in said bearings, of vertical roll housings, rails extending between the first-mentioned housings supporting said vertical roll housings'from said firstmentioned housings for transverse movement, working rolls journaled in said verticalroll-housings, individual driving motors for said last-mentioned rolls, and extensible couplings connecting the driving motors and the vertical rolls. 7

9. In a rolling mill, the combination with a pair of housings, bearings mounted therein, and

horizontal rolls journaled in said bearings, of vertical roll housings, rails extending between the first-mentioned housings supporting said vertical roll. housings from said first-mentioned housings for transverse movement, working rolls journaled in said vertical roll housings, individual driving motors for said last-mentioned rolls, a worm and worth wheel drive in each of said vertical roll housings, and extensible couplings connecting said motors to the worms of said drives.

BARTON R. SHOVER. 

